Portside

After six months, Betsy DeVos has taken some major steps to change education policy, and her very presence at the head of the U.S. Education Department signals something important about the past, present and future of public education in the United States. She faces protests at many public appearances, which is why she receives special protection from the U.S. Marshals Service, at an average cost so far this year of $1 million a month.

Communist bookstores provided a critical public space for radicals, operating in virtually every major American city. Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York had several apiece. Smaller and ostensibly less radical locales such as Birmingham, Houston, and Omaha, had communist bookstores, too. Some radical bookstores operate today. Venture into one of these shops in which left bookstores helped customers envision radical worlds that were often otherwise unimaginable in America

Reader Comments: Time to Stop Honoring Traitors Who Fought for Slavery - Take Down ALL Symbols of Hate - Sign the petition; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Colin Kaepernick; Growing Up White in America - Unlearning the Myth of American Innocence; DSA's Convention - initial reader responses - what do you think?; Will Democrats Support Single-Payer in future elections; The Forgotten World of Communist Bookstores; lots of resources; and more....

Dolores Huerta has contributed to movements for union rights and social justice since the of the United Farm Workers (UFW). Working with Cesar Chavez, Philip Vera Cruz and others, she helped found what became the UFW. Today, now 86, she works in supporting union democracy, civic engagement and empowerment of women and youth in disadvantaged communities. The UFW changed the nature of labor organizing in the Southwest contributing to the growth of Latino politics in the US

Monuments to Confederate soldiers and generals hold prominent positions in dozens of cities across the southern United States. Over the weekend, one of them - a statue of Confederate leader Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia - became the site of a violent clash by white supremacists against anti-racist counter-protesters. There are movements in states across the country to remove them. Help identify these monuments to racism and slavery. List of these monuments.

Charlottesville: Race and Terror – VICE News Tonight on HBO. How Trump's Charlottesville Response Emboldens White Supremacy. What Donald Trump Doesn't Know About Robert E. Lee. ‘You’re Watching a Presidency Go Off the Rails.’ 'We Will Survive This.'

All the city’s churches (Black and “White”) and other faith communities stood strongly against the haters, as did the local chapters of Black Lives Matter, the Center for Peace and Justice, and other community groups. A whole series of activities was organized for Saturday, starting with a sunrise worship service at the historic Black church, First Baptist. The Alt-Righters were heavily armed and carried large flags with Nazi, Confederate and KKK symbols.

Roxane Gay is clearly a versatile writer. At the same time, her focus is precise and does not stray, a piercing glance she can aim in any number of directions. And her book titles give us a pretty good clue to how she sees not only herself, but any successful woman in an often hostile world: untamed, bad, difficult.

When it comes to protecting the speech of people who are most vulnerable to being intimidated into silence — like people of color and gay people — conservatives either are suspiciously quiet or drive further intimidation with wildly negative news coverage.

It's time to stop relying on markets and multiculturalism, and start engaging in real activism.